Fantasy Football Week 6: The Kings of Garbage Time

By Dan Freeman

Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Life hasn’t been easy for the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. Sitting at 0-5 with the possibility of a winless season looming large, they’ve struggled as much as a team can struggle. Through five weeks, their offense has been abysmal for the most part, as they’ve managed just 51 total points thus far.

Speaking of the number 51, does it sound familiar? It should, because that’s how many points their opponent this Sunday, the Denver Broncos, put up on the Dallas Cowboys just last week. These poor Jags really can’t catch a break, can they?

It’ll be David vs Goliath this weekend, except the story isn’t going to end the same way. No, in this version, David is going to get trampled by Goliath within the first few minutes of their showdown and then get subjected to a gruesome three-hour beating.

The spread in this game is the largest in NFL history and rightfully so, as Jacksonville has a better chance of winning every other game for all of eternity than they do of holding the Broncos under 40 points in this one. It won’t be pretty and those with weak stomachs should find another game to watch.

So, is there any good news for the Jaguars? Absolutely not. There is, however, good news for fantasy owners who have some of their players. Once the Broncos have scored two or three hundred points, there’ll be nothing but sweet, sweet garbage time for Jacksonville’s offense to work with.

What’s more is that the Broncos’ secondary has been very beatable, evidenced by the fact that they got shamed by Tony Romo last week to the tune of 506 passing yards and five touchdowns. Chad Henne, go watch the tape and take some notes.

Henne will be filling in for the injured Blaine Gabbert, much to the joy of anyone who’s ever watched Gabbert play. It’ll be his third start of the season and although he didn’t exactly do a whole lot with the other two, the volume is too hard to ignore this week.

He could throw well over 40 times and he’s bound to make something happen with at least some of those, so if you’re in a bye-week bind, he’s worth a plug. He could be a nice surprise this week.

The other two players who stand to benefit from the situation are receivers Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon. Shorts has been targeted at least 10 times in each game so far, securing 31 of the 62 total passes thrown his way for 411 yards and one touchdown. He should definitely be able to find success against the Broncos’ suspect secondary, especially if they wind up pulling their starters when the game gets out of hand.

Shorts is dealing with a groin injury, however, so he’s not guaranteed to suit up. He played through the injury and shined last week though, so he should be in your lineup if he does play.

Blackmon, the other beneficiary, came back from a four-game suspension last week and showed no rust whatsoever on his way to 136 yards and a touchdown. He should get plenty of looks as well and if Shorts doesn’t wind up playing, it’ll be shocking if he’s targeted less than 10 times on the afternoon. He’s a strong play this week.

Jacksonville is sadly on a collision course with brutal destiny this weekend and there’s no way around it. They’re going to suffer their worst loss of the season by a laughable margin and I feel for them. Still, if you own one of the players mentioned, don’t be afraid to play them. They won’t bring their own team victory, but they might bring you yours.

This week, they’re royalty. This week, they’re the kings of garbage time.